3 ms·
Don't companies build at least two versions anyway? There are three almost exact replicas of the Curiosity mars rover if I recall correctly. Building two copies
by wereHamster 9y ago
Don't companies build at least two versions anyway? There are three almost exact replicas of the Curiosity mars rover if I recall correctly. Building two copies instead of just one adds very little cost (relative to the overall cost of the whole project).
- pfranz 9y agoI toured JPL years ago and it sounded like the duplicate rovers were for testing maneuvers and software updates after launch. More for testing/debugging than a failsafe.
- msl 9y agoOne JPL-related source [1] indicates that the second copy can generally be obtained for 15% of the price of the first one. The primary source is "Interview with Gentry Lee, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, June 1, 1984." I doubt things have changed very much since. [1] https://history.nasa.gov/computers/Ch6-3.html https://history.nasa.gov/computers/Ch6-3.html